1CFDISK(8) System Administration CFDISK(8)
2
6 cfdisk - display or manipulate a disk partition table
7
9 cfdisk [options] [device]
10
12 cfdisk is a curses-based program for partitioning any block device. The
13 default device is /dev/sda.
14 Note that cfdisk provides basic partitioning functionality with a
16 user-friendly interface. If you need advanced features, use fdisk(8)
17 instead.
18 All disk label changes will remain in memory only, and the disk will be
20 unmodified until you decide to write your changes. Be careful before
21 using the write command.
22 Since version 2.25 cfdisk supports MBR (DOS), GPT, SUN and SGI disk
24 labels, but no longer provides any functionality for CHS
25 (Cylinder-Head-Sector) addressing. CHS has never been important for
26 Linux, and this addressing concept does not make any sense for new
27 devices.
28 Since version 2.25 cfdisk also does not provide a 'print' command any
30 more. This functionality is provided by the utilities partx(8) and
31 lsblk(8) in a very comfortable and rich way.
32 If you want to remove an old partition table from a device, use
34 wipefs(8).
35
37 -h, --help
38 Display help text and exit.
39 -V, --version
41 Print version and exit.
42 -L, --color[=when]
44 Colorize the output. The optional argument when can be auto, never
45 or always. If the when argument is omitted, it defaults to auto.
46 The colors can be disabled, for the current built-in default see
47 --help output. See also the COLORS section.
48 --lock[=mode]
50 Use exclusive BSD lock for device or file it operates. The optional
51 argument mode can be yes, no (or 1 and 0) or nonblock. If the mode
52 argument is omitted, it defaults to yes. This option overwrites
53 environment variable $LOCK_BLOCK_DEVICE. The default is not to use
54 any lock at all, but it’s recommended to avoid collisions with
55 systemd-udevd(8) or other tools.
56 -r, --read-only
58 Forced open in read-only mode.
59 -z, --zero
61 Start with an in-memory zeroed partition table. This option does
62 not zero the partition table on the disk; rather, it simply starts
63 the program without reading the existing partition table. This
64 option allows you to create a new partition table from scratch or
65 from an sfdisk(8)-compatible script.
66
68 The commands for cfdisk can be entered by pressing the corresponding
69 key (pressing Enter after the command is not necessary). Here is a list
70 of the available commands:
71 b
73 Toggle the bootable flag of the current partition. This allows you
74 to select which primary partition is bootable on the drive. This
75 command may not be available for all partition label types.
76 d
78 Delete the current partition. This will convert the current
79 partition into free space and merge it with any free space
80 immediately surrounding the current partition. A partition already
81 marked as free space or marked as unusable cannot be deleted.
82 h
84 Show the help screen.
85 n
87 Create a new partition from free space. cfdisk then prompts you for
88 the size of the partition you want to create. The default size is
89 equal to the entire available free space at the current position.
90 The size may be followed by a multiplicative suffix: KiB (=1024),
92 MiB (=1024*1024), and so on for GiB, TiB, PiB, EiB, ZiB and YiB
93 (the "iB" is optional, e.g., "K" has the same meaning as "KiB").
94 q
96 Quit the program. This will exit the program without writing any
97 data to the disk.
98 r
100 Reduce or enlarge the current partition. cfdisk then prompts you
101 for the new size of the partition. The default size is the current
102 size. A partition marked as free space or marked as unusable cannot
103 be resized.
104 Note that reducing the size of a partition might destroy data on
106 that partition.
107 s
109 Sort the partitions in ascending start-sector order. When deleting
110 and adding partitions, it is likely that the numbering of the
111 partitions will no longer match their order on the disk. This
112 command restores that match.
113 t
115 Change the partition type. By default, new partitions are created
116 as Linux partitions.
117 u
119 Dump the current in-memory partition table to an
120 sfdisk(8)-compatible script file.
121 The script files are compatible between cfdisk, fdisk(8) sfdisk(8)
123 and other libfdisk applications. For more details see sfdisk(8).
124 It is also possible to load an sfdisk-script into cfdisk if there
126 is no partition table on the device or when you start cfdisk with
127 the --zero command-line option.
128 W
130 Write the partition table to disk (you must enter an uppercase W).
131 Since this might destroy data on the disk, you must either confirm
132 or deny the write by entering `yes' or `no'. If you enter `yes',
133 cfdisk will write the partition table to disk and then tell the
134 kernel to re-read the partition table from the disk.
135 The re-reading of the partition table does not always work. In such
137 a case you need to inform the kernel about any new partitions by
138 using partprobe(8) or partx(8), or by rebooting the system.
139 x
141 Toggle extra information about a partition.
142 Up Arrow, Down Arrow
144 Move the cursor to the previous or next partition. If there are
145 more partitions than can be displayed on a screen, you can display
146 the next (previous) set of partitions by moving down (up) at the
147 last (first) partition displayed on the screen.
148 Left Arrow, Right Arrow
150 Select the preceding or the next menu item. Hitting Enter will
151 execute the currently selected item.
152 All commands can be entered with either uppercase or lowercase letters
154 (except for Write). When in a submenu or at a prompt, you can hit the
155 Esc key to return to the main menu.
156
158 The output colorization is implemented by terminal-colors.d(5)
159 functionality. Implicit coloring can be disabled by an empty file
160 /etc/terminal-colors.d/cfdisk.disable
162 for the cfdisk command or for all tools by
164 /etc/terminal-colors.d/disable
166 The user-specific $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/terminal-colors.d or
168 $HOME/.config/terminal-colors.d overrides the global setting.
169 Note that the output colorization may be enabled by default, and in
171 this case terminal-colors.d directories do not have to exist yet.
172 cfdisk does not support color customization with a color-scheme file.
174
176 CFDISK_DEBUG=all
177 enables cfdisk debug output.
178 LIBFDISK_DEBUG=all
180 enables libfdisk debug output.
181 LIBBLKID_DEBUG=all
183 enables libblkid debug output.
184 LIBSMARTCOLS_DEBUG=all
186 enables libsmartcols debug output.
187 LIBSMARTCOLS_DEBUG_PADDING=on
189 use visible padding characters. Requires enabled
190 LIBSMARTCOLS_DEBUG.
191 LOCK_BLOCK_DEVICE=<mode>
193 use exclusive BSD lock. The mode is "1" or "0". See --lock for more
194 details.
195
197 Karel Zak <kzak@redhat.com>
198 The current cfdisk implementation is based on the original cfdisk from
200 Kevin E. Martin <martin@cs.unc.edu>.
201
203 fdisk(8), parted(8), partprobe(8), partx(8), sfdisk(8)
204
206 For bug reports, use the issue tracker at
207 https://github.com/util-linux/util-linux/issues.
208
210 The cfdisk command is part of the util-linux package which can be
211 downloaded from Linux Kernel Archive
212 <https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-linux/>.
213util-linux 2.39.2 2023-06-14 CFDISK(8)